Chapter Text
December 20th, 213X
The weather was mild, the day that Iji decided to pay her respects. Thanks to global warming, cold weather was a rare sight even this far north, and the Alpha Strike had certainly not helped matters.
Still, it was just chilly enough that Iji decided to wear a sweater and a scarf. Her nanofield’s temperature regulators meant that she didn’t need to, but it was nice to be able to choose her own clothes again.
She stood now, in the midst of a field not far from her home in South Town. It was an unremarkable plain, with hardy wild grasses now reclaiming the soil as it healed from the world’s devastation.
There, hidden behind a patch of grass, were a set of four gravestones. Iji had commissioned a local artisan to sculpt them — given that he was a monster, it took some explaining to get him to understand what a ‘grave’ even was.
She stood before the graves, holding a single golden flower in her hand. Kneeling down, she placed the flower on the grass just in front of the gravestones, and offered a silent prayer.
Iji… she still wasn’t sure what she believed, in terms of religion. She now knew that souls were real, and the girl she saw in Sector Z was seemingly a higher being. But she had no idea what that actually meant, in terms of humans who had died and left the world.
All she could do now was close her eyes, and hope that her thoughts would reach her family, somewhere.
Dan… Mia… mom and dad. Wherever you guys are now… I hope you’re alright. I hope you’ve found your peace.
And I hope you can forgive me for leaving you all behind.
“Chara! Iji! There you are!”
A voice called out to Iji. She opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder, and saw Asriel running towards her.
Before she could answer, Chara’s hologram whirred to life beside her. Asriel came to a stop just before them, and his eyes trailed over to the graves.
“H-huh…?” said Asriel. “Wait, are these…?”
“Something to remember my old family by,” said Iji. “I had them built here a couple weeks ago.”
“Oh,” Asriel said. He fidgeted nervously with his hands. “I… I was going to say, dad wanted to invite you guys to dinner tonight. I didn’t mean to, um… interrupt you.”
“His turn, huh?” said Chara. “I like your mom’s cooking better.”
Iji rolled her eyes. “Chara, you literally can’t taste anything. You don’t even eat.”
“What? You think I don’t remember what food tasted like when I was alive?”
“Hey, he’s gotten way better!” Asriel objected. His face deflated, as he looked over to the gravestones again. “Uh. Anyway, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come in while you were, um… mourning.”
“That’s alright,” said Iji. “I was just about finished anyway. I’d love to come over. Tell him I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Asriel. His eyes drifted once again, back to the graves. For several seconds, he could only stare at them, with a fixed, vacant stare.
“Something the matter?” said Iji.
“Huh? No, just… j-just… nngh!”
Asriel suddenly screwed his eyes shut, and winced in pain as he clutched at his shirt, holding his hand over his heart.
Immediately, Iji rushed over to his side. She wrapped and arm around his shoulder, and pulled him close, rubbing her hand gently across his back. Asriel’s breathing was heavy and ragged, but it quickly steadied out.
He pulled away, and let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Iji. I needed that.”
“Another empathy pang, huh?”
“Y-yeah…” said Asriel. “I… I think they’re not as bad now, though. It’s nowhere near as disorienting as it was the first few times.”
“That’s good to hear,” Iji said. “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it soon.”
“Ugh, but it still feels so weird,” Asriel breathed. “It’s like my body just… just doesn’t know how to process that kind of emotion at all. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully get used to it.”
“Why don’t you try telling us about what you were feeling just now?” said Chara. “That’s always helped, right?”
“Yeah, good idea,” said Asriel. “I was just, uh… thinking about your family, Iji. I think you mentioned your brother Dan a couple times, when I was, um… eavesdropping. Wasn’t he the one who was… was…?”
“Murdered by a Komato assassin, yes,” said Iji.
“I-I’m sorry,” Asriel hastily replied. “I-I really didn’t mean…”
Iji reached over, and rested a hand on Asriel’s shoulder. His body steadied itself, the subtle trembling in it fading away.
“Hey. Hey. It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me, Asriel.”
“Sure feels like I did,” he muttered. “God, how are you all not totally overwhelmed by this stuff? How do you even manage dealing with these feelings every single day?”
Iji gave a shrug. “I guess it’s just normal for most people. It’s probably something we all get used to before we even learn to talk.”
“Yeah, I… I guess that makes sense,” said Asriel. “Anyway, um… your brother. I was just… wondering about him. What was he like?”
Iji closed her eyes briefly. She could taste the bittersweet memories that lingered on the edge of her recollection.
“He was… a lot of things,” said Iji. “Brave. Stubborn. Diligent. Reckless. Passionate. He was… he was someone who was always aiming higher, always trying to push himself to do more. We… didn’t always see eye-to-eye. We’d often end up butting heads with each other. But we still cared about each other a lot. And… I kind of owe everything to him.”
“Really?” said Asriel. “How so?”
“Dan was a computer genius, unlike anyone else I’d ever known. He could crack some of the most secure servers on the net like it was nothing. When he was thirteen, he hacked into the Census for fun. They sent an entire team of armed feds to our house for that.”
Asriel couldn’t help but wince. Even though Chara likely already knew this, on account of sharing Iji’s mind, they couldn’t keep themselves from wincing either.
“Jeez,” was all that Asriel could say.
“Don’t worry, we all made it out fine.” Iji blinked. “Um. The fed stuff, I mean. Not the… you know.”
“Yeah, I get you,” said Asriel. “But what do you mean you owe everything to him?”
“I mean that I wouldn’t have my nanofield without him,” said Iji. “He was the one who first cracked the Tasen logbooks. That was what gave the scientists at the facility what they needed to start reverse-engineering Tasen tech.”
Asriel’s eyes went wide. Clearly, he was just as impressed by this feat as Iji was.
“Whoa! That’s… wow. I guess that kinda means I owe everything to him too, huh? On account of the whole… um… ‘nanofield for a soul’ thing.”
Despite the bitter memory of Dan’s death lingering on the edge of her mind, Iji couldn’t help but smile.
“Heh. Yeah. I guess it does, doesn’t it? God, I… I really do miss him. Mia and my parents, too.”
“Yeah…” Asriel looked away for a moment. He steepled his fingers together, and fidgeted with his thumbs. “What about your parents? What were they like?”
“My dad was a man named Ron Kataiser. He was a total doofus that I couldn’t live without.”
“Wait,” said Asriel. “Your last name is Kataiser?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know? I thought I mentioned it a couple times in the Underground. Weren’t you spying on me the whole time?”
Asriel shrugged. “I didn’t spy on everything. Or maybe I wasn’t paying attention. I think I’d remember a name that weird.”
“Hey! My name isn’t weird!”
“I dunno, it is pretty out there,” said Chara, with a grin. “Though I guess it could be worse. Your last name could be Terrell.”
Iji set aside her offense for a moment, and gave Chara an odd look.
“Your last name is Terrell?”
“Yup. Chara C. Terrel. That’s my full name.”
“…Huh,” said Asriel. “I didn’t even think you had a last name.”
“Well. I suppose you could say I don’t anymore,” Chara replied. “That name no longer holds meaning to me. My birth family is most likely long gone by now.”
A tense silence briefly made itself known, looming over the air. Asriel fidgeted in place; something was clearly on his mind.
“You… you never told me anything about your human parents, while you were alive,” he said. His voice went quiet, as he spoke. “They, um… they didn’t exactly treat you very well, did they?”
The casual smile on Chara’s face vanished instantly. They looked away, and the light that was behind their eyes went dull.
“I… I would rather not talk about it,” they said. “Iji, you… were talking about your father, right?”
Iji knew better than to press the issue any further. It didn’t take a genius to work out that Chara didn’t have a very happy home life, before they fell into the Underground.
“Um. Right. My dad. His name was Ron… though his friends all called him ‘Ronnie.’ He was something of a big shot scientist, but you’d never know that meeting him. Just a big, lovable goofball all around. And always sticking up for me whenever I needed him.”
Another smile crossed Iji’s face, as another memory came to mind.
“This one time, when I was a kid, I was being bullied by this other girl at school. When I told him what happened, he said he’d go over there and — and I quote — ‘kick her ass.’ Probably for the best he didn’t, but… I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t all for it.”
Asriel was clearly just as amused by the story as Iji was. “Heh. Sounds like my dad would get along with him pretty well.” A realization quickly made its way across his face, and he promptly verbally backpedaled on himself. “Um. N-not because of the, uh… child… ass kicking… that my dad did.”
“No, I get what you mean,” Iji said. “I can see it, honestly. My dad got along well with most people.”
For several moments, Iji went quiet, letting the cool breeze brush against her skin. Despite how badly she missed her father… remembering him brought a smile to her face. Even at the end of the world, that memory was something she would always cherish.
“What about your mom?” said Asriel. “What was she like?”
“That’s… a bit complicated,” Iji replied. “My, um… biological mom was a woman named Halley Kataiser. But I never really knew her. She died of cancer when I was only four years old, and Dan was only a baby. My dad always said she had a real tough head on her shoulders, and that Dan got his stubborn streak from her. But there’s no way for me to really know.”
“Oh,” Asriel said. “Hold on, you said she died when Dan was a baby? But didn’t you and Dan have a sister, too?”
“Mia’s not related to my birth mother,” Iji answered. “My dad eventually married another woman named Lara, and… had Mia, with her. Lara was the mom that I knew for nearly all my life.”
“So Mia’s your half-sister, then.”
“Yeah,” said Iji. The warm nostalgia that had lingered within Iji’s chest began to fade away, when she thought about what happened to Mia.
“God, Mia. I… I don’t know what to say about her. One moment she was right by my side, and the next, she… she was dead, just like that. The instant the Alpha Strike hit, she was gone. I never even got to say goodbye. But at the same time, I… I can’t even imagine what would have happened to her if she survived. She… she was always so bright and cheerful. If she saw the world die, right before her eyes… I-I… I genuinely don’t think I could bear seeing her broken like that.”
As she closed her eyes, Iji could feel a thick cloud of malaise clinging to the inside of her ribs. A gentle, furry hand on her shoulder let her know that Asriel was right there, trying to ease her sorrows. She opened her eyes, and saw the young Prince staring up at her, his eyes full of understanding.
Iji instinctively reached for Asriel, and placed a hand on his head, running her fingers through his fur.
“Mia, she… even before she knew what a half-sibling was, I… I always got the feeling that she knew she was the odd one out. That she was different from Dan and me, somehow.
“And… I do sometimes wonder. Who my little sister would have been, if my birth mom hadn’t died.”
Asriel didn’t say anything. He reached over, and wrapped his arms around Iji. Iji embraced the gesture wholeheartedly, and slowly, the malaise within her began to clear away.
“I’m going to miss them, Asriel. I’m going to miss all of them so much.”
Not long after, Iji joined Asriel for dinner at Asgore’s house. It was a simple meal, made from a variety of garden vegetables, but there was no denying that it was made with a great deal of love and care.
After saying goodbye to Asriel and his father, Iji returned to her own house, and wound down for the night.
Eventually, after a short reading session in bed, she drifted away to the realm of sleep.
--------
You arrive home from a long day of school, instinctively reaching for the key on your lanyard. Today, however, the front gates are already unlocked.
Curiously, you continue down the driveway towards your house. It’s impressively large; some would even call it a ‘mansion’ for its sheer size.
You would disagree, on the grounds that mansions aren’t supposed to be so ugly. Your childhood home is a haphazard mish-mash of clashing architectural styles, put together into a tacky, cheaply-built package. A shamefully perfect encapsulation of the suburban upper middle class.
An unfamiliar car is parked in front of the garage. You continue to the front door, and find that it’s already unlocked. You’re slightly perplexed, but not worried. Only someone with death wish would try to rob your mother, after all.
“Hello? Someone here?” you call out, as you enter the foyer.
You don’t know who is going to answer. Dan is still at computer club, and your little sister doesn’t get out of middle school for another hour.
“Hello?” you call again, slightly louder this time.
You hear your father calling your name from the dining room. That’s unexpected. He’s usually not home at this time of day. Sure, his job is nowhere near as demanding as your mother’s, but he usually doesn’t get home until after your sister does.
As you enter the dining room, you see your father sitting at the table across from an unfamiliar face. She’s a human, shockingly — a woman of roughly your father’s age, with pale skin, brown eyes, and long brown hair. She’s wearing a plain white t-shirt with a blue jean jacket, and matching denim pants.
Even more shockingly, she’s not the only human present. Also sitting at the table is a little girl, probably no more than seven or eight, wearing a simple blue dress. Like the older human, she has pale skin and brown eyes. Her brown hair is tied with a small pink band into a single ponytail that trails down the side of her head.
You’re so shocked by the sight of the two that you can only stare, as though you’re caught in a sudden blinding light.
“Hey! Look who it is!” your father greets. “We were just talking about you!”
“Uhhhhhhhh… hey dad,” you say. “What’s going on here?”
“This is Laura. She’s an old college friend of mine,” your father answers.
“And I’m Mari!” the little girl adds. She looks up at you, her face beaming like sunshine.
Your father introduces you to the human, and her daughter. You find yourself getting along with each other almost immediately. It becomes clear that your father considers Laura to be a very good friend, even though they apparently haven’t talked to each other in a long time.
“You two must have been real close, huh?”
Your father chuckles. “You don’t know the half of it. If I hadn’t met your mother, I might have ended up marrying her!”
“Really?” Mari says. “Does that mean you’d be my dad instead?”
Your lips curve upwards, into a smile. You can’t deny that Mari would make for an adorable younger sister.
“I, uh, don’t think it works like that.”
Before you can finish the thought, though, another one occurs to you.
“Where is mom, anyway? She said she’d be home early to help me with my science project.”
Your father’s eyes shift away, briefly. You both already know the answer to your question. But you don’t want to hear it, and he doesn’t want to say it.
“Ah… well. She probably got caught up in something at Town Hall. You know how it is.”
Your nose twitches. A flash of anger passes through your chest. Your mother always, always does this. Every single time you need her help with anything. It never fails.
“Oh, yeah. Sure. Sure. She must be very busy with all of the *absolutely nothing* that happens in this town. My mistake. Next time, I’ll try finding something for her to nag me about. Then I bet she’ll drop everything and come running.”
Your father frowns. He tries to express his disapproval, but you cut him off before he can finish.
“Just forget it,” you say. “If you need me, I’ll be in my room.”
You turn around, carrying your backpack over your shoulder, and refuse to look back as you head for the stairs.